US History Wk 3

Philadelphia Convention: Virginia’s Proposition (Pt. 1/2)

The Philadelphia Convention was held May-Sept. 1787, where delegates from each state of the U.S. drafted our current federal constitution. The First thing the convention did was to elect George Washington as president of the convention. The second thing they did was to kick out the reporters and swear all of the people present to secrecy until the convention was adjourned. The third thing that happened was Governor Randolph presenting his proposal in front of the entire convention. Prior to the Convention’s start, the experienced James Madison had gathered together some like-minded delegates so they could form a proposition that would be presented to the Convention at the start of the meeting, therefore forcing the delegates to spend most of their time discussing the said proposal. The Articles of Confederation were based on a federal government model (one government to serve the parts) as opposed to a national model (many parts to serve the whole). The plan that Gov. Randolph presented was to form a new constitution that would be amendable without congresses permission. The central government would be allowed to admit new states without asking for old states permission. The Government could tax itself without asking for the state’s permission first. There would also be a national legislative branch, a national judicial branch, and an executive branch. The new constitution would hand a lot of power to the new central government and was objected to immediately by many less-populated states because they would posses much less power than more populated states. Tune in next week to see what the Philadelphia Convention decides.